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Chapter 1 flashcards

Section 1: Understanding American Politics

  • What Is A Government?

    • Government refers to the institutions and procedures through which people are ruled.

    • Your book’s definition: The system for implementing decisions made through the political process.

    • Governments have offices that have authority and responsibility.

Section 2: Different Forms of Government and Foundations

  • Different forms of government

    • Aristotle named three types of government:

    • Monarchy: rule by one

    • Aristocracy: rule by few

    • Polity: rule by many

    • Governments largely exist to prevent chaos

    • Different people, ideas, philosophies, beliefs, religions, events help shape them

Section 3: Direct vs Indirect Democracy

  • Direct Democracy

    • Greeks used it, but with limitations

    • Great Idea, but…

  • Representative (indirect) Democracy

    • Which works best? In what sorts of situations?

    • Cutandshoot, TX (about 45 \text{ miles north of Houston})

    • George, Washington

    • Monkey’s Eyebrow, Kentucky

    • Frankenstein, Missouri

    • Ding Dong, Texas

Section 4: Understanding American Politics — Collective Action

  • How do we all get along peacefully?

    • We have to work together, or in other words: collective action.

    • We have to coordinate to achieve things together.

Section 5: Collective Action — Benefits and Challenges

  • What’s so great about collective action?

    • Free riders

    • Tragedy of the Commons

    • Famous example

    • How do you avoid this?

  • Problems with collective action

    • You can do more together than you can do on your own.

Section 6: What Are Some Things Government Does For You?

  • Create and enforce laws

  • Creates money and regulates it

  • Provides goods that wouldn’t exist on free market

  • Regulates market

  • Protects your civil liberties

Section 7: What Is Politics?

  • Politics is conflictual

  • Political process matters

  • Politics is all around us

Section 8: Republic and Pledge of Allegiance

  • Pledge of Allegiance: … and to the Republic for which it stands…

  • Our framers created a republic

  • A republic is a system of government that allows indirect representation of the popular will.

  • Also, power is vested in elected representatives.

  • Important idea: a republic is a limited form of government.

Section 9: Ideas About Government

  • Things that are important to us but cause conflict:

    • Economic stuff

    • Culture stuff

    • Race, gender, and ethnic differences

    • Ideology

Section 10: Be a Good Consumer of Politics

  • Be a good consumer of politics:

    • Who wrote it?

    • Do they have a track record of accurate information?

    • Is there verifiable evidence?

    • Can the claims be backed up?

    • Think about the size of the claim

    • If something was huge and crazy, it would probably have a track record

    • Read multiple reports

    • Read a bunch of sources to try to see what is accurate

    • Be wary of a (too) simple explanation

    • None of us are truly simple and neither are our motivations. Most answers are not just A = B

Section 11: Texas Creed and Texas Tidbits

  • Texas Creed – five big ideas that shape Texas politics and government:

    • Individualism: Each person should act according to their own conscience.

    • Rooted in Texas’s Protestant settlers.

    • Liberty: Government shouldn’t infringe on a person’s individual rights.

    • Constitutionalism: Written document that limits government.

    • Equality: All individuals should be treated similarly, regardless of socioeconomic status.

    • Democracy: Yes, this is similar to Huntington’s American Creed … differences: Texas’s history places more emphasis on individualism and liberty.

Section 12: Texas Tidbits — Why Six Flags?

  • Why is Six Flags called Six Flags?

    • Created in 1957

    • Angus Wynne from Dallas

    • University of Texas alum

    • Wanted to celebrate Texas history

    • Six Flags refers to the flags that have flown over Texas:

    • Spain

    • France

    • Mexico

    • Republic of Texas

    • Confederate States of America

    • United States of America

Section 13: Texas Tidbits — Famous Alum

  • Famous Alum: Fess Parker

    • 1924 – 2010

    • Raised near San Angelo

    • Graduated UT in 1950

Here's a breakdown of whether each term is defined or mentioned in the notes:

  • American political values — liberty, democracy, equality: Liberty, democracy, and equality are mentioned and alluded to, especially in the context of the Texas Creed (Section 11).

  • Aristocracy: Defined (rule by few) in Section 2

  • Collective action problems: Mentioned and discussed, including free riders and tragedy of the commons, in Section 5.

  • conservative: Not explicitly defined or mentioned.

  • Critical consumer of politics and news: Addressed in Section 10 ('Be a Good Consumer of Politics').

  • Culture wars: Mentioned as a source of conflict ('Culture stuff') in Section 9.

  • Democracy: Discussed in Section 3 (Direct vs Indirect Democracy) and mentioned in Section 11 regarding the Texas Creed.

  • Direct democracy: Defined in Section 3.

  • Economic individualism: 'Individualism' is mentioned in Section 11 (Texas Creed), but not specifically 'economic individualism'.

  • equality: Mentioned and defined in Section 11 (Texas Creed).

  • Factions: Not explicitly defined or mentioned.

  • Free market: Mentioned in Section 6, but not explicitly defined.

  • Free rider problem: Mentioned in Section 5.

  • Government and governments (what, types, what it does, ideas about, sources of conflict, etc):

    • What is a government?: Defined in Section 1.

    • Types: Discussed in Section 2 (Monarchy, Aristocracy, Polity).

    • What it does: Listed in Section 6.

    • Ideas about: Discussed in Section 9.

    • Sources of conflict: Discussed in Section 9.

  • ideology: Mentioned as a source of conflict in Section 9, but not explicitly defined.

  • Indirect democracy: Defined as Representative Democracy in Section 3.

  • Liberal: Not explicitly defined or mentioned.

  • liberty: Mentioned and defined in Section 11 (Texas Creed).

  • libertarians: Not explicitly defined or mentioned.

  • Monarchy: Defined (rule by one) in Section 2.

  • norms: Not explicitly defined or mentioned.

  • Politics: Defined ('Politics is conflictual', 'Political process matters', 'Politics is all around us') in Section 7.

  • Polity: Defined (rule by many) in Section 2.

  • Public goods: Mentioned conceptually in Section 6 as 'goods that wouldn’t exist on free market', but not explicitly defined as 'public goods'.

  • Redistributive tax policies: Not explicitly defined or mentioned.

  • Republic: Defined in Section 8.

  • Separation of powers: Not explicitly defined or mentioned.

  • Texas creed: Defined in Section 11.

  • Tragedy of the commons: Mentioned in Section 5.

  • Checks and balances: Not explicitly defined or mentioned.